No decision on England captaincy as confusion reigns

Wednesday 16 March 2011 08:36 BST

Confusion continues to reign over who England manager Fabio Capello wants as his permanent captain, with reports suggesting the Italian has not yet made up his mind.

Capello revealed on Monday he planned to meet skipper Rio Ferdinand at Old Trafford last night to discuss the prospect of relieving the injured defender of the armband he inherited a year ago in the wake of the John Terry scandal.

However, reports claim the pair failed to meet up despite both being present for Manchester United's Champions League last-16 second leg against Marseille.

No formal announcement is expected as to who will captain England in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales on March 26 until the pre-match press conference 24 hours before the game, but it is difficult to see what conclusion can be reached other than Terry getting his old job back.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti yesterday insisted he was "not interested" in whether Terry had changed his ways since being stripped of the national captaincy a year ago following allegations of an affair with the ex-girlfriend of then England team-mate Wayne Bridge.

Ancelotti, who did not follow Capello's lead by stripping Terry of the club captaincy, has repeatedly claimed he is not interested in what his players get up in their spare time.

It is something he has been forced to reiterate on numerous occasions when they have hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Asked yesterday if he felt Terry had learnt his lesson from last year's events, the Italian said: "I don't know. I'm not interested in this.

"I'm just interested in seeing him train well and play fantastic football at this moment. That's all."

Ancelotti was tight-lipped about Terry's likely reinstatement, revealing only his belief that the defender would be "happy" to lead his country again.

"I didn't say anything when the England team took away his armband," Ancelotti said. "Obviously, this is the decision of the national team and he will be happy about this."

And the Italian had no doubt about Terry's credentials as captain at Stamford Bridge.

"He is a Chelsea man, he is a Chelsea player," he said. He has fantastic experience, he has personality to be captain here."